Hymn: All that I was, my sin, my guilt

All that I was, my sin, my guilt,
My death, was all my own:
All that I am I owe to thee,
My gracious God alone.

The evil of my former state
Was mine, and only mine:
The good in which I now rejoice
Is thine, and only thine.

The darkness of my former state,
The bondage—all was mine:
The light of life in which I walk,
The liberty is thine.

Thy grace first made me feel my sin,
And taught me to believe:
Then, in believing, peace I found,
And now I live, I live.

All that I am e’en here on earth,
All that I hope to be,
When Jesus comes, and glory dawns,
I owe it, Lord, to thee.

Horatius Bonar

This hymn is from J. C. Ryle’s little book Spiritual Songs, published in 1849, when he was rector of Helmingham, Suffolk. The hymns Ryle selected were not found in the most common hymnbooks of the day.

Suggested tune: Dundee (“Let saints on earth in concert sing”).

Download a .pdf file of the hymnal.